~~~~ (Wi ~ 1fffif ~)

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (Ministry of Labour, Govt. Of India) ~ ~/Head Office

~ ~ "Jltif, 14- ~ ~ 't(ffi, "'~-110066

Telephone: 011- 26163246 Fax : 011- 26175913

Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14- Bhikaiji Cama Place, New Delhi - 110066 \.\ ww .epfindia.gov .in/\vww .epfindia.nic. in

(CENTRAL ANALYSIS & INTELLIGENCE UNIT)

No.CAIU/011 ( 33)2015/HQ/Vol. III

To

Date : 06 .02.2018

All Additional Central P.F. Commissioner (Zones), All Regional P.F. Commissioner In-charge of ROs.

Sub:- Compliance to statutory provisions of applicable Labour Laws relating to "Contract Labour" hired by Railways either directly or through Contractors.

Ref:- i) No. CAIU/011(29)2016/Railway Estt./18339 dated 25.01 .2017. ii) No. CAIU/011(33)2015/HQNol.ll/28445 dated 02.02.2017. iii) No. CAIU/011 (29)2016/Railway estts./19433 dated 20.02.2017. iv) No. CAIU/011(33)2015/HQ/4662 dated 05.06.2017. v) No. CAIU/011(33)2015/HQNol.11/11834 dated 06.09.2017. vi) No. CAIU/011(52)2016/PEP/14776 dated 13.10.2017. vii)No. CAIU/011(52)2016/PEP/14932 dated 17.10.2017.

Madam/Sir,

Please find enclosed herewith a copy of letter No.2018/E(LI)/AT/CNR/3 dated 24.01.2018 received from Railway Board, Ministry of Railways, Government of India on the subject cited above.

2. In th is regard, a letter is being issued to all General Manager of Indian Railways (all Zones), Kolkata Metro Corporation, Director General, ROSO and Chairman & Managing Director, IRCTC for ensuring compliance in respect of contract workers being Principal Employers.

3. In view of above, it is requested to take steps to cover all eligible contract workers and ensure compliance by the all offices of Indian Railways, Kolkata Metro Corporation, Director General, ROSO and Chairman & Managing Director, IRCTC which comes under your jurisdiction as per the provisions of EPF & MP Act, 1952.

This may be given TOP PRIQRTY.

Yours faithfully,

Encl: as above. ~ Addi. Central P.F. Commissioner-HQ (CAIU)

www.taxguru.in

vfJv· Cy,; r No.2018/E(LI JAT/CNR/3

The General Manager All Indian Rail~ays and PUs (as per standard list)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(RAILWAY BOARD)

"'i,'-<>.'l.l"!, ~Ti<ki -1 1 ('3ij,,i"'1 .-, / Addi. c.P.F.C.-11 (Compliance) :sJlrft ~./Dy. No. .Q ~ 11 fJ

~/t)ate O t\o~r"be)b-

Sub: Compliance to statutory provisions of applicable Labour Laws relating to "Contract Labour" hired by Railways either directly or. through Cont~actors.

Ref: (i) Board's letter No. E(LL)2005/AT/CNR/64 dated I 0.-11.2005 · (ii) Board's letter No. E(LL)2005 AT/CNR/16 dated 29.08.2006 (iii) Board 's Jetter No. 2012/CE-1/0/22 dated 14.12.2012 (iv) Board's letter No. E(LL) 2015/PNM/AIRF/J dated 20.10.2015 (v) Board's letter No. 2016/E(LL)/AT/MW/ J dated 05.D6.2017

~~ . Apropos the subject cited above. As the Railways are aware, Indian Railways executes a ~ wide range of works for creation, repair and maintenance of its various assets including stations,

coaches, wagons, coaching depots, locomotives, tracks, etc. Sometimes, Contracts are also \,~

1 \ entered for rendering services too. Some of these works/services are executed by way of

"(...,,c..-.:::::-("cJ>,.. \ l)) outsourcing to external agencies. The external agencies (Contractors) work for the Railways and ~(.,(_..; ~ . engage workmen towards execution of these contracts. A large number of these workmen are O A ~ classifiable under the tenn ·contract Labour'. It is to be noted that the statutory provisions of ~ pl"' Rqfl.S. ?1any beneficial legislations for protection of such 'Contra~t Labour'. cast obli~a~i~ns both .on the ~ ~ _ .J.b'ol-' Contractors' as well as on relevant departmental heads o1 Zonal Railways, D1v1s1ons, Units etc.

-t" _.....1..vft (jr" as "Principal Employer" (wherever defined in various Labour Laws). 1f> t:,r ~ ~ ~ }.... 2. . One of the principal legislations. for protection of contract labour is "Contract Labour - 1 -~ fo~....,,) (Regulation and :1'-b~liti_on) Act (CLRA), 1970"_ read with '·C_ontr~ct Labo~r. (R&A) Rules, 1971 ". 'U""'~~ Moreover, attention 1s also drawn to few ofthe important leg1slat1ons/prov1s1ons:- ·

'*° ~. (i) Minimum Wages Act (MWA), 1948 an~ Minimum Wages Rules (MWR), 1950, wherever applicable;

1)..... (ii) Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act (EPF and MPA), 1952 and ,.,-, Employees' Provident Fund Scheme (EPFS), 1952, wherever applicable. Jt is to be noted

that though as per Section 1 (3), read with Section 16 of this Act, and notifications issued thereunder, tbe Indian Railways are not directly covered, however, Contractors working in Indian Railways are covered under the provisions of the Act. In this connection, para 2 of

[/\ the Board's letter no.2012/CE-I/CT/0/22 dated 14. 12.20 12 refers.

~-/ ( (iii)g.,, Employees' State Insurance Act (ESIA), 1948, Employees' State Insurance Rules (ESIR), ~ (j A-I" ,... L, 1950 and Employees' State Insurance (General) Regulations, 1950, wherever applicable;

(iv) · The Employees' Compensation Act (ECA), 1923, wherever applicable;

(v) "General Conditions of Contract (GCC) of Indian Railways as amended vide Railway Board's letter No. 2012/CE-I/CT/0 /22 dated 14.1 2.20 12. These specifically lay down the

www.taxguru.in

-2-role and responsibility of the Zonal Railways etc. as Principal Employer under aforesaid Acts.

Hence, violation of any of aforesaid legislations/anyother applicable Labour Legislations would entail punitive/penal proceedings under relevant laws against Contractors as well as against Principal Employers.

3. However, it has been recently brought to the notice of the Apex level and Board that Contractors have been indulging in many irregularities especially in payment of wages to Contract Labour. It has also been brought to attention that ContracrLabour employed in various Railway departments are not being paid Minimum Wages as per the latest Minimum Wages orders (w.e.f. 01.04.2017). It may be recalled that orders of Ministry of Labour and Employment on Minimum Wages have been circulated vide Railway Board's letter No. 2016/E(LL)/AT/MW/1 (RBE No. 50/20 17) dated 05.06.2017. Moreover, recently, there has been all~gations that some unscrupulous Contractors are resorting to various stratagem to deceitfully deprive Contract Labour of their rightful wages. Such deceitful practices include (i) Payment of less wages through cash; and (ii) forcibly grabbing, beforehand, of ATM/Debit Cards of Contract Labour so that Contractors can withdraw, unauthorisedly, part of the wages (paid in the bank directly) received by Contract Labour. Non-payment of minimum wages to the workers is a criminal offence since it violates the statutory provisions. In order to curb/eliminate such malpractices, Railway Board have been repeatedly issuing detailed instructions on the subject matter. Some of these are cited in reference of this letter. Keeping in view of the fact violation of Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and related orders, deprive Contract Labour of their just and legal rights and also leads to violation of conditions of Contract (exposing Principal Employer to the risk of proceedings under these Acts), these unscrupulous Contractors are liable to be taken up under relevant punitive/penal proceedings. It is directed that whenever any COIJ1plaint in this regard is received, stringent deterrent penal actions should be taken by following due procedure.

4. In view of the fact that the Contract Labour are engaged by various departments of Zonal Railways, PUs, etc., it is incumbent on the Principal Heads of the departments to put in place a robust mechanism so that no violation of labour laws takes place in their respe_ctive departments. ltis, th;efore, directed that if any- such/other complaints are received, the guilty cootractors should be black-listed and their Contract should be terminated following the due procedure, apart from initiating criminal proceedings against them with the help of Labour department officials. Since, non-compliance of terms and conditions of GCC entails violation of contractual obligations, any reluctance 011 the part of a contractor toawa;a-' minimum wages to contract labour, for the period during which he had admittedly worked, is violative of contract conditions, illegal, unfair and violates the Fundamental right of the Right to Life. Therefore, the Railways are directed to ensure the compliance of the labour laws (particularly registr~ io~s J>rin..9ipal Employer. ensuring that Contractors have requisite I icense and ensuring other beneficial provisions) and related orders as weliasro see that payment of minimum wages to the contract labour engaged directly (Such as Para-medical staff etc.) or through Contractors is ensured, both in letter and spirit.

(Manj Joint Directo LL)

Railway :Soard.

Page2of2

www.taxguru.in